Minor matters: Former C Hoover hired, staffs set

The Rays released their minor-league coaching staff assignments on Thursday, and while most of the changes were internal, there are two new faces: Paul Hoover, who played for the Rays, was hired to manage the Gulf Coast League team, and Kyle Snyder, a Sarasota Riverview product who pitched five seasons in the majors, will be the pitching coach at short-season Hudson Valley.

The Triple-A Durham staff remained intact, with Charlie Montoyo back for his sixth season as manager, accompanied by pitching coach Neil Allen (who was interviewed by the Red Sox) and hitting coach Dave Myers.

Hoover is the third Rays draft pick to manage in their system, following Matt Quatraro and Jared Sandberg. A 23rd-round pick in 1997, Hoover spent eight years in the Rays minor league system and had two brief stints in the majors in 2001-02. He also played in the majors for the Marlins and Phillies. Snyder, a first round pick in 1999, pitched for the Royals and Red Sox.

Among the internal changes, pitching coach R.C. Lichtenstein was moved up from Class A Bowling Green to Double-A Montgomery (in a swap with Bill Moloney), pitching coach Marty DeMerritt from Princeton to the GCL team, pitching coach Darwin Peguero from the GCL team to rookie-level Princeton, hitting coach Reinaldo Ruiz went from Hudson Valley to Princeton, hitting coach Dan DeMent from the GCL team to Hudson Valley, and coach Wuarnner Rincones from Princeton to the GCL team.

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